The Environmental Protection Agency today celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Toxic Release Inventory and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.
* EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, along with New Jersey Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menedez, spoke in Newark, N.J., about the importance of the act, especially 25 years later.
* Jackson said, "When TRI became a reality 25 years ago, our communities and our citizens gained a powerful new tool for defending their health, their environment and the health of their children. Serving the public's right-to-know, ensuring that our data is based on the best science and full transparency, and making sure that it is as accessible as possible are critical to everything we do at the EPA. That is why the TRI an indispensable part of fulfilling our mission to protect the health of the American people."
* Sen. Lautenberg, who primarily authored the legislation 25 years ago, said, "Everyone has a right to know if danger is lurking in their own backyard, but for a long time, Americans were denied this basic right. The (TRI) shows how government empowers people to improve their lives. This common sense law makes sure parents have the information they need to keep their children healthy and safe."
* EPCRA was signed into law in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, two years after a cloud of methyl isocyanate, a toxic pesticide, killed thousands of people in Bhopal, India, and another dangerous chemical release occurred at a plant in West Virginia, which hospitalized 100 people.
* Environmental organizations and members of the public began to demand transparency of information that recorded what toxic chemicals were being released by factories, plants, and other facilities and ending up in areas beyond their property.
* The purpose of enacting EPCRA was to inform citizens of what chemicals were being released near them.
* EPA and individuals states are held responsible for collecting data on industrial chemical emissions, which are available to the public through the TRI.
* In 2006, the Bush administration weakened the TRI program by enacting a rule that excluded smaller facilities from being required to report specific quantities of their toxic releases.
* President Obama overturned the Bush administration's rule in 2009 and restored the previous requirements.
* Since 1988, the first full year of data, there has been a significant and steady decrease in overall toxic releases.
* The public can access the TRI, which contains a database of over 600 toxic chemicals from more than 20,000 facilities in the country, through the EPA website.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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